The Demon Doll
by Ninja Way
Summary: Reika Oshiro is the niece of S-Rank criminal Deidara of the infamous Akatsuki. Having shown potential, even just after she was born, her artistic 'skills' cause trouble and the deaths of her parents. After being adopted by Deidara, Reika finally gets to meet the cousin of Itachi, Hitomi Uchiha. Will Reika finally let her artistic skills flourish? By Lozzie-san.
1. Couldn't Be Saved

_*Deidara's P.O.V.*_

Literally, only hours ago, I heard rumours from Kisame stating that the Oshiro family were going to be assassinated.

 _*Two Hours Ago*_

Itachi and Kisame only just arrived at the hideout after having finishing a mission and, while I was working on some of my artwork, I could not help but overhear what they were talking about.

"..So yeah. While I was 'passing' Iwa, I could not resist _listening_ to a little conversation between two of the Shinobi outside the gate. They said that the Oshiro family's daughter has just done something almost impossible. She is only five and she has already developed a skill in the Explosion Release." Kisame babbled.

I dropped the sculpture I was working on and literally jumped out of my seat.

"What's this about the Oshiro family and the Explosion Release?" I demanded an answer from Kisame, trying to square up to him, which was really difficult since he was a hell of a lot taller than me.

However he did look taken aback by my reaction and chuckled slightly as he towered above me, "I had a feeling you would have an interest in this. Well, the Shinobi are planning an assassination in the late hours of tonight. The child is the main target, but if they can get all three, then that's even better. After you blew up all them statues, they stated they could not really afford to have another 'artist' like you. I was going to go back and watch the assassination, but Itachi said we had to return to the hideout." he scowled and actually looked really gutted he couldn't be there. Saddo...

Immediately, I grabbed my cloak and fled the hideout.

"Hey! Deidara! Where you going?" Kisame shouted after me, but I ignored him. He knew full well where I was going.

 _*Now*_

I, now, have not stopped running for a solid two hours. I need to get to Iwa right now. My brother, his wife and my little niece are in danger. I may not care about many things, but I am not ready to let my family go. Especially my niece, before she has even had a chance to show her potential.

But I was too late. Flames were licking up the sides of the house that the family lived in, and surrounding the house were at least ten Shinobi from the village. All of them burning up the building, my brother and his family, most likely, inside. I shook my head slowly and covered my mouth in shock. I was too late. I gritted my teeth, trying to maintain the rage that was bubbling up inside towards myself, for being too late, and the Shinobi below who were actually enjoying burning my brother's property. And that is when I picked up a sound coming from inside the ignitied building. A young child. Crying. My instant reactions told me I had to go inside, so I barged past all of the Shinobi and smashed my way through the window.

Downstairs was absolutely wrecked, but I could hear the crying, only it was coming from upstairs. I knew I had very limited time, so I jumped up through the weak and breaking floorboards to the second floor of the house. To the horrors that lay before me. My brother and his wife. He was still alive, but there were severe burns eating his skin. He will not live for much longer. She was already dead, her body was held closely in his arms, but her eyes were wide open in shock. My brother coughed up a load of blood from his lungs as he regained conciousness and opened his paler blue eyes slowly. He saw my shadow above him and looked up.

He squinted before his eyes widened, "Deidara-san." he smiled his usual cheerful, but this time bloody, smile up at me then frowned, "They are after Reika. Please. She is still alive. Hidden in the attic." he coughed again, "We did all we could. But we couldn't. Couldn't let her die. Please. Take her."

"Brother." I cried out, kneeling next to him, but I had to stand up quickly as the floorboards began to shake as the flames devoured everything.

He lay down next to his wife and coughed a final cough, "Please. Take her. Love her. Take Reika." he sighed and his head collapsed, "Take her. And destroy this place." he went lifeless.

I nodded as I closed his and his wife's eyes with the palm of my hand, "Brother, I promise to protect her." then I stood back up again, and used some of my detonating clay to break a hole into the ceiling. Quickly I clambered through, trying to maintain my balance on the weak floorboards, and looked around frantically for the child. I heard her cry out in fear in the corner of the attic. There she was, huddled in the corner, waiting to die.

"Reika-Chan. Come on. Come to your uncle." I tried to smile to cover my desperation stretching an arm towards her, but she has not seen me in ages. She does not know me, "Come on. Remember me? Uncle Deidara?"

She stopped crying but hesitated for a few seconds before she examined me closer and blue eyes widened. She quickly ran over and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, crying into my cloak. I winced slightly as I am not sure how to calm a child down. I ended up having to shush her softly as I held her in my arms. I made a promise to protect her, and I am going to keep it.

Suddenly, a crash was heard from below. Then, in a flash, the Shinobi were inside.

"Let the child go." one of them demanded, holding out his arm to me.

I scowled and clutched Reika tighter in my arms, "Never." I replied.

"Then you have left us now choi..." the Shinobi suddenly stopped speaking.

"Deidara?" another one blurted out.

I said nothing.

The Shinobi chuckled, "A rogue-nin rescuing a dangerous child. You came back for that? Ahh well, at least now we can kill you both."

I sneered, "This child is my niece. Does that surprise you?" I turned around and spotted a small window behind me. I reached into my bag and pulled out some more clay, "And here's another surprise." as the clay left my hand, I made hand signs, then ran for the window.

The explosion was enough to kill everyone in the house, but unfortunately the whole structure collapsed almost immediately. But me and Reika escaped and left without turning back.

Back at the hideout, I was hoping that I could get permission off of Leader or Konan to keep Reika, but Kisame and Itachi were first to see her.

"Who's that?" Kisame asked, pointing one of his massive fingers at Reika, who was fast asleep in my arms, scowling in disgust at her.

"My niece, Reika." I replied quickly, looking back up at him with eyes forcing him to wipe the disgust off of his sadistic face.

Kisame chuckled loudly, "Is that the child who was going to be assassinated? What a joke! What did she do that ended in her assassination attempt?"

I chose to ignore him, as he continued to ramble. That is when Itachi finally spoke up.

"Kisame, be quiet." he peered over at Reika and spoke again, "Hn. I sense her potential. Clearly tougher than she looks. I think she will be an impressive Shinobi in the future. Like my brother, Sasuke, and cousin, Hitomi." he looked away again, "I'm going out for a bit. Kisame, you stay here." and left.

I felt Reika stir in my arms, and when I looked down, she yawned, stretched her arms out and looked up at me. She giggled and grabbed the collar of my cloak, hugging me tightly, "Dei-Dei!" she called out to me.

My eyebrow twitched. I hate it when she calls me that.

Kisame snorted, before roaring with laughter, "This child is priceless...Dei-Dei. If I were Leader, I would definitely allow ya keep her. She's a laugh!"

I sighed as a slight pang of embarrassment welled up inside , "Don't call me that." I demanded, looking down at Reika, who was now wide awake and struggling to get down.

"Dei-Dei!" she shouted again, before walking off somewhere.

Kisame was leaning against the wall, howling with laughter, trying to maintain his balance. I can tell he won't let this go...

I growled under my breath before following Reika. And we both landed slap bang in front of one of the founders of the Akatsuki. At least it was Konan. She has much better understanding than Leader-sama about family issues.

She looked at me with her sunset orange eyes, before looking down at Reika again, who was standing directly in front of her, her mouth partially open.

"Who's this?" she demanded, taking a small step back as Reika tried to approach her.

"M..my niece, Konan-San." I stammered slightly.

Konan examined Reika. Reika looked back up and smiled at her, before hugging her leg. I am not sure whether Konan was impressed or not, but she asked another question with no expression change on her stone face.

"Where is she from?" she asked, "Where's her family?"

"Iwa, Konan-san. Her parents were killed last night. I am the only family she has now." I replied, not moving from the spot I was standing in.

Konan nodded once, taking in all of my rambles, "She has nowhere else to go?"

I shook my head, "I am all she has."

Konan sighed, "Then she can stay. But she is your priority. None of us need to have anything to do with her."

When Reika giggled again, I could have sworn I noticed Konan's mouth turn up at the corners, before it disappeared again, and she turned and left without another word.

Months passed, and most of the Akatsuki have taken quite an interest in Reika. They were definitely curious about her skills. And it turns out it is not just modelling Reika can do, she can also paint, sew, play simple pieces of music and do origami. (Which Konan was really impressed with) Sometimes I even get a glimpse of Konan giving Reika lessons in origami folding, well that is, before Konan slams the door on me. She hates to show her soft side to anyone. Leader-sama agreed with Konan at the fact that Reika can stay as long as I look after her. Sasori is interested in Reika as well, much to my dislike. Reika can make dolls flawlessly with strings and stitches. Sasori may have puppets, but to him, dolls are the next best thing because she is able to manipulate her creations like Sasori can his, and I am convinced he is giving her lessons as well a Konan. As for everyone else They are not particularly interested in Reika's presence and try to avoid it as much as possible.

What will the future hold for Reika I won't be able to tell.


	2. Years Later

_*Reika's P.O.V*_

Ok, let's get the nitty gritty stuff outta the way. That's the boring part...

The names Oshiro, Reika, not quite a Shinobi, but a keen art enthusiast.

I'm twelve years old, nearly thirteen, oh how time flies...

I have platinum blonde hair and sky blue eyes, so I kinda look like Dei-Dei, except with lighter hair and more feminine features (if that's even possible...)

A way in which I can be recognised quickly is the distinctive mark I have across the bridge of my nose. It's hideous and ruins what could have been my perfect complexion

There's not much else you need to know about me apart from the fact I am orphaned and have been taken in by Uncle Dei-Dei...to a criminal organisation...that's right, I live with criminals. Not a good start, you could say, but I love it.

Guess that is pretty much it for the basics. Let's outline in more detail.

I started becoming more and more obsessed with art as the years went past. I made my first doll when I was four and now I make them all the time. My room is filled with them. The animal ones have been made with the real fur and skins of different animals (after all, I do hunt for my next meal every now and again. It can be rather difficult for the Akatsuki members to just go and do a bit of food shopping *internally laughing at the thought of Dei-Dei with a shopping basket* because there is always someone who can recognise them. That leaves me to do it. That's right. I am pretty much a walking talking shopping list and food distributor, because I am the only one who can get in and out of villages without raising an eyebrow, and kill animals without destroying them in the process...). The human dolls have been made with fabric, however, because I have never killed a soul...yet. Hey you never know when the time will come...No one will let me use the corpses they killed either, because they think it is too 'psychotic'...hypocrites...

Adding on to the fact that there is no shops, I cannot buy any clothes, so I make my own. I have always been able to stitch, as you can tell, so every year, I create clothes that fit me, for I am growing at an exceptional rate! I also have a wardrobe in my room full of unworn outfits that I have made in my spare time, from lacy blouses to skimpy leather shorts. I do own an Akatsuki robe, but I like to keep it in mint condition until I officially become a rogue ninja (that's right, I want to be a Shinobi just so I can betray them). This year I am into crimson red and black, so I have a tight red zip up vest, netted sleeves, elbow length fingerless gloves, a black skirt, black leggings and bandaged thighs from my shoes to my knees.

I guess you can say I am a bit sassy, dramatic, have a crazy attitude, an obsession with fashion and trends, and I refuse to leave my room until I look presentable because I am that vain. That means my hair must stay in place. Side swept, so I have no fringe, and tied in two high pigtails. I don't really care if people don't like me. I just assume they are jealous because they can't become anything like me. I'm one of a kind!

Guessing you are wondering where I got my scar from? Well, I have had it since I was five. Just before Uncle Dei-Dei came and rescued me, a glass window shattered in the heat, and a fragment of glass snagged the bridge of my nose. Unfortunate I know. It ruins my complexion and there is no way I can cover it up because I am not looking like a mystery person in a mask. I like to present myself as I am.

Nitty gritty over, now we can get to my life.

The morning started off pretty normally I guess. I woke up, washed my face, dressed myself and tied my hair. Then I headed out the door for breakfast. But when I placed my cereal down on the table, a loud bang rattled the table.

It was Deidara, and he was clearly not happy.

"Morning Dei-Dei." I tried to act as normal as possible, for that crash scared the crap out of me and sent half of the cereal out of the bowl and drip off the edge of the table.

He sighed, really frustrated, "Reika. Have you stolen some of my detonating clay again?" he asked.

I shook my head, "No." I lied, slipping the small bag deeper into my pocket.

Deidara is not one to lose his temper easily, but I could tell he was angry, "Reika. Give it back now. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is?"

I snorted, dropping my spoon into my bowl, "Yeah. I have been using it since I was five. I accidentally blew up a market stand back in my village. That's why all them Shinobi were after me. That's why my parents died."

He shook is head slowly, trying to ignore my harsh words so he wouldn't say anything stupid, "Yeah, and I don't think anyone in the Akatsuki would appreciate you blowing anything up in here, would they, un?"

I said nothing.

Deidara held out his hand, "Give."

I shuddered at the sight of Deidara's creepy hand mouth and sighed loudly, reaching into my pocket, pulling out the pouch of clay and ramming it into his hand to cover up the mouth.

"You know I hate your hands. Those mouths are creepy. I swear you have licked me with them." I folded my arms and sulked, forgetting the cereal that was sitting on the table.

Putting the clay back on his belt, Deidara chuckled, "Look, explosions are art. Even though I like your attitude towards making beautiful pieces of work like that, I don't like the thought of you making it have no meaning or value and just deciding to waste it on awful pranks, or whatever, un?" he ruffled my hair, making me grunt in annoyance, before heading out again, "I'm going out on a mission with Sasori. I'll be back later." then he finally left me alone.

I leaned back in my seat after finally finishing breakfast and made popping noises with my lips, "Bored. Bored. Bored." I kept repeating to myself, tapping my stomach to a strange rhythm I made up.

Footsteps came to my hearing and immediately, curiousity took over for I was convinced everyone was either out or still asleep. I slipped out of my chair and crept down the corridor, peering round the corner. Itachi Uchiha was here, for the first time in a while. I was going to say hi when I noticed another, smaller presence, standing next to him. A girl, about my age, if not younger, with the same pale complexion and jet black hair as him. But her eyes were a piercing green colour. Her face showed me timidity, making me wonder why Itachi has brought her back here. She wouldn't last a day with this lot. I was going to go over and greet/warn them, but a hand held my shoulder, making me stop what I was doing. I turned around and behind me stood Konan with her usual plain expression on her face.

"Konan-san?" I whispered, looking up at her.

"Not know, Reika-chan. Allow our new guest to get settled down. Anyway, I want to show you something." she walked back the other way, not waiting for me to follow.

I turned back around to look at the new girl, but I spotted her turning around in my direction, so I ran away after Konan.

I have a really strong bond with Konan. Even as a kid, I have always liked her. In her free time she taught me the art of origami, giving me something else to go pro at. I can now make a wide range of shapes, including flowers, birds and even shuriken and kunai.

Konan was standing outside the hideout on the ledge we normally sit by. The day was calm and no breeze was rushing through my hair. She was flicking a steel hard paper kunai in her hand.

When I arrived, Konan looked at me, "Reika-Chan. I have heard that Itachi has plans for you and the new girl. You are going to live in Konoha together in a months time, and in that time, you are going to study to become Shinobi."

My heart began to flutter with excitement, "Finally." I cheered, "I can prove my strength, style and agility at long last!" I clenched my fists in anticipation.

Konan nodded once, "But now you are down to your final month, I'm going to prepare you for what you're going to face. I'll train you. Today, I am going to show you how to make origami into lethal weapons." she threw the kunai at me and I caught it in one of my hands.

 _Oh this_ , I thought, _is going to get good._


	3. Meeting Aya-chan

"How many times do I have to tell you? I make birds and spiders with my clay. Not bunnies!" Uncle Dei-Dei shouted, as I sat at the dining table moulding bunny shapes with his clay, much to his disgust.

"Why not? Bunnies are awesome! Plus it uses extra clay which will make an even bigger explosion." I replied, picking up one of the models and bouncing it along the table, before focussing my chakra and making it come to life and hop on its own.

Dei-Dei face palmed at my childish behaviour, "Exactly. That's the point. You should't waste it. It doesn't grow on trees. Anyway, I am not gay enough to make bunnies, un!"

"You could be. You look it." I mumbled to myself, hoping I would not be heard.

But Dei-Dei's eyebrow twitched, "Excuse me? Could you repeat that? A little louder?"

"I didn't say anything." I said quickly, trying not to grin.

"Reika." Dei-Dei warned me, "You may want to make yourself disappear. Quick."

Slowly, I rose from my seat, sneaking the bunny sculpture into my palm. Then I quickly chucked it at Deidara shouting, "Think fast!" before making the appropriate hand signs to blow up the model.

It immediately exploded near Dei-Dei's face causing a loud bang, a bright flash and a lot of smoke, giving me enough time to leg it back to my room and shutting the door tightly.

"Reika!" I heard Dei-Dei shout, before hearing his footsteps running down the corridor after me.

I heard chuckling come from inside my room, "In trouble with your with your uncle again, Reika-chan?"

I gasped loudly and turned around. Sasori was sitting on the chair near my desk, polishing one of his puppets grinning very slightly, probably mildly amused with my body language.

"Sasori-san? What are you doing here?" I asked, sighing in relief, thanking God it wasn't any other Akatsuki member, like Zetsu or Hidan.

"I came to talk to you and Deidara. Itachi has finished his errands with his cousin and wishes for you to wait for them at the dining table. But I see that this will be difficult." he replied, standing up and heading to the door, "That's all I have to say."

I remained hidden in my room for a couple of hours, until everything seemed to have calmed down. I could hear no more banging on my door, or on the walls surrounding my room. Sasori-san attempted to calm Dei-Dei down, and luckily (because Dei-Dei respects Sasori-San) he managed to keep him quiet. I finally plucked up the courage to open the door, head to the kitchen and sit down at the dining table.

I did not hear Dei-Dei approach, and again he scared the hell out of me.

"Reika-chan." he nodded.

Still hacked off with me, I presumed. Dei-Dei is not very good at apologising, and neither am I, so we sat in awkward silence, waiting for Itachi-San and his cousin.

After a few minutes, I heard footsteps coming down the corridor and got to my feet quickly, hoping that it was the new girl. Dei-Dei heard them too and turned around.

"Aya-chan!" he called out, beckoning the girl over, "Come. I have someone to introduce you to."

For some odd reason, I felt nervous, and when I heard a grunt come from the girl, I felt even worse.

 _Not very friendly_ , I thought, narrowing my eyes.

When the girl walked over, I could finally get a better view of her. She was very pale with shiny, thick black hair, which was in a braid draping over the front of her shoulder, down to her chest. Her eyes were a sparkly emerald green, with a hint of mystery to them. My mouth dropped open slightly, _she's gorgeous...beautiful...stunning...a proper doll of a girl. A face and skin like porcelain and eyes like glass._

I smiled brightly at the girl, when Dei-Dei introduced her to me. But all I got in return was a simple nod. No smile, no wave, no handshake even!

 _I hope to God getting to know her will be better!_


	4. Ditching the Akatsuki

Well this is not awkward in any way, I thought to myself as we were left by Dei-Dei to 'get to know each other'. In fact, we were kind of left twiddling out thumbs since neither of us wanted to speak in particular. I started sighing to myself and thinking about the number of dresses I could make in the time it took for this girl to speak.

But after a while, I had had enough and cleared my throat, "So, you are Itachi's cousin." I asked, tapping the table with the tips of my fingers rhythmically.

Aya nodded slowly, but did not even look up from staring at the table.

 _Is there something special that I am not seeing or something?_ I scowled, clicking my tongue.

"You survived the massacre all those years ago." I added, trying so hard to make a conversation.

She started twiddling her thumbs on the table before finally saying her first word, "Yep."

 _Yep_ , I repeated in my head, _couldn't be a bit more enthusiastic I presume_.

"Do you have the Sharingan?" I asked, curious about whether I can see it or not, she had better not be secretive, otherwise I will get seriously annoyed.

She finally looked up at me, an expression of boredom written across her face, "That, and the Mangekyo."

I grinned slightly, now we are getting somewhere. I turned my head and looked at her from the corner of my eye, "Huh. Prove it then."

Aya said nothing, and just closed her eyes. But when she opened them, her eyes glowed green, the Sharingan tomoe marked around her iris. I only had a split second to examine her eyes further, because the tomoe began to change shape and transform into a flower like pattern in her eye.

"Wow." I gasped, actually kind of envying her ability, "Your Mangekyo is, like, shaped like a flower."

 _I need to make glass bead eyes of those! This is an opportunity! Or maybe I could just..._ I shook my head, _Don't be a sicko. You've only just met the girl..._

Aya blinked and the Sharingan was gone. I was pretty disappointed since the pattern in her eye was so pretty, but then again, I am aware if the Sharingan is used to much it messes up the optic nerve. Take Itachi for example. His eyesight is deteriorating all the time.

"What can you do then?" Aya asked, looking me directly in the eye.

I shrugged, "Not much. But I do enjoy art, like Deidara-san." I don't normally call Dei-Dei by his proper name in front of someone. Last time that happened, nether Kisame nor Hidan let it go and Dei-Dei is still teased about it, even now, "He taught me how to make art out of his detonating clay. I make roses and butterflies, then blow them up of course. And Konan has even taught me how to do origami, making them into Shuriken and Kunai." I took in a deep breath, because I knew if I carried on at the way I was going, I was sure to faint, "She taught me how to use a jutsu to make them as hard as steel. I am hoping to make an artistic jutsu of my own, but my experimenting has not worked yet." I frowned slightly, everyone has their unique jutsus, and I'm just boring.

But Aya actually looked slightly impressed, her lips curling up at the corners, so I lightened up, "Can I just say, it is great to have a partner now. Maybe we can be part of the Akatsuki together?" I suggested, giving her a hopeful smile.

Aya looked away, before looking back from the corner of her eye, "You want to join the Akatsuki permanently?" she asked.

My insides darkened and my conscience whispered to me, _Please don't tell me she is a goody goody, who will leave as soon as she goes back to Konoha._

"Well, yeah. After the ninja from my home village killed my parents, I knew I had to avenge them. And how to do that?" I grinned again, but this time, not happily, "To punish them as an Akatsuki member of course." I chuckled, "Plus, I feel like I belong here since a relative is here as well. Is that not why you are here? To be with your cousin."

Aya shook her head, which shocked me slightly, "Me and Itachi agreed that I needed to spend a little time away from Konoha. But I do intend on returning. Then again, after that, I have no idea what I want to do. Then I guess I could consider becoming one too. Konoha just doesn't feel right for me anymore... "

I was a little unsure what to think of this girl. She is definitely something else, and I was not sure whether I would get on with her or not. She does contradict herself a little bit. But I shrugged and decided to accept her. I walked over to Aya and patted her lightly on the shoulder, "Good for you." then I winked, "Plus the cloak looks really good on you." Well it almost reached the floor and was a little baggy, but I'm sure she'll grow into it. If not I can play around with it.

Finally, we managed to settle down and talk a little bit more. In my opinion it is a little bizarre she is spending time with her cousin, the guy who killed her parents. But then again, she loves him, so I presume that will not change. Fair enough I guess. At least this girl is decent, otherwise I will be going nowhere with her.

It has now been a week since I first met Aya, and I must admit I have misjudged her. She is definitely tough, I mean a mere few minutes ago, I watched her pummel Kisame and Samhaeda to the ground! But now we were both packed and ready to leave the hideout and go to Konoha. Adventure time! I have never been to Konoha before and to be honest I am so excited. I have heard this village is quite an easy going one, so even if I am a stranger, I should get accepted quite easily.

But before we left, we were stopped, "Aya, Reika!" Konan-San called out to us, just as we reached the entrance to the hideout. We both turned around, and she beckoned us over with her finger.

 _Great, a hold up, but Konan-san must have a good reason, since she barely ever speaks,_ I thought, rolling my eyes.

"The Akatsuki just wanted to give you departing gifts for your future ahead." she held out two items which she pulled out from her cloak.

 _Woah...since when were the Akatsuki this generous?_ I thought, widening my eyes and actually taking an interest.

In the one hand, she handed me a katana, which was made of silver with a black handle, which was encrusted with diamonds. There were music notes engraved into the blade.

"Reika, for you, a sword of harmony. We are aware of your passion for art, so we thought this would be best for you. It creates music that can either kill, harm or even cure, depending on the chakra used. It can also control people, by creating sound that can affect the brains functions, so it can be a useful tool, or mass destruction."

I took the sword in both hands and gazed at it, as the diamonds glistened in the sun. I zoned out and did not pay any attention to what Konan had to say to Aya. Using my chakra, I examined the sword, and then gasped silently. There is more to this sword than meets the eye. I think this is more than just a sword. I could sense music, art and textiles all in one. I think I am going to need a lot of spare time to practise with this sword, because there is a lot that I want to discover and uncover.

When I finally awoke from my inner thoughts, I was just in time to hear Konan say, "We'll await your return." before leaving back to the hideout.

It has been a few hours since we left the hideout, and there was still a little way left to go. The whole journey has been boring, so I decided to speak out, hoping to get some information about Konoha.

"So, Aya. What's this Konoha like?" I asked, jumping from branch to branch, not worrying about whether I was going to fall or not.

Aya looked up slightly, before replying nervously, "Um, pretty normal, you know, with dusty streets, nice looking shops, and decently sized."

I squinted my eyes, T _hat's it? Is this girl really all here at the moment, because I think she has just zoned out. There must be more to Konoha than that..._

Suddenly Aya's new kitten, which Konan gave her before she left, disappeared into the bell of the collar Aya was wearing.

We both stopped in our tracks, and gazed at the collar.

"Huh?" Aya gasped, clutching the bell, "Where did she go?"

I tried to act more sympathetic than I felt, "She disappeared into the bell. Maybe she can be summoned out somehow?" I suggested, shrugging my shoulders, not really caring much.

Aya hesitated before holding the bell in between her finger and thumb, and ringing it gently. The sound that came out was actually really pretty, and spirals of blue chakra appeared from the bell and solidified on the branch into the shape of the kitten.

"Ingenious." Aya mumbled, scooping up the kitten in her arms and cradling her, "And I have just come up with a good name for you." she smiled, scratching the cats chin, "Suzu. Meaning bell."

I finally smiled, and although it was bitter, I was actually warming up to this girl. She seems so sweet and innocent, as well as dangerous and wild. She is definitely someone I can relate to, and I really like her, "Ha, great name. Now can we please get going?" I guess I got a little impatient, which bugged Aya.

She frowned, returning Suzu to the bell, "Of course."

 _Oops_ , I thought to myself as we continued out journey, _I don't think Aya likes impatient for some reason. Still, at least she is decent_.

After another long run, we finally arrived at the village of Konoha. And boy it was rather pretty. A lot less violent looking than the hideout, but I guess that is to be expected. No guards were surrounding the gates, so Aya found it easier to sneak me in. I don't see why we had to sneak in because we are not exactly Shinobi yet, so I am sure they would not care anyway. But that is when I found out why she snuck.

"What if everyone recognises me? They assume I am dead." she asked me, her eyes widening in concern.

That is when I understood. I guess she disappeared, so everyone thought she died, so I guess it would be a little dodgy just appearing out of the blue again.

"Don't worry about that." I replied, "Just let your hair down for once, and messy bangs to cover your face and eyes. Now hold still."

When I am done with Aya, no one will recognise her!


	5. Arriving at Konoha

p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"Quickly, I pulled out a kunai from my pocket and, possibly a little roughly, grabbed a good handful of Aya's soft hair. I actually felt a little guilty and gutted about doing this now, because her hair is so perfect that I wish I didn't have to touch it. I bit my lip and cut out a large chunk, allowing it to be swept away by the wind and into the wildnerness. I continued styling and slicing a good six inches of her hair off and letting that too blow away. It was now shoulder length, bigger in volume and I shaped the front of her fringe so it covered a lot of her face, mainly her rather noticeable and recognisable green eyes./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;""There." I smiled, ruffling her hair so it had a messy look to it. T/spanspan style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"hen I looked down at her outfit and pulled a disapproved face, "Now to create a more interesting outfit for you." I looked back at Konoha before asking slightly worried, "Do you have the keys to your apartment?"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"I sighed in relief when Aya nodded and pulled them out of her pocket. It was a little awkward walking down the streets of Konoha because Aya was being really secretive about where she walked, and even at times she hid in some alleys when she saw certain people walking past. But luckily her apartment was not too far away, so we arrived without much of a problem. We did have an issue with a girl around our age though./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"She turned to look at us, and only at that moment I noticed her abnormally coloured eyes./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"Eww, they aren't the same colour...but that could make an /spanspan style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"intriguing/spanspan style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" and unique creation. /span/emspan style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"I thought to myself./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"She spotted me observing her and flicked her head over to me, "Have we met?"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"I shook my head, "No idea...I'm new here."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;""Hmm." she tucked a stray hair behind her ear, "Didn't hear of any newbies arriving." she shrugged, "Meh. Well, good to meet ya and..." she looked over my shoulder at Aya, who was looking at the floor, "Your friend."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"I grinned, "Yeah. Same goes to you."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;""Alright. I'll see you around. Oh...and cool katana. We could relate to each other." she grinned, "I would introduce you to my rival and we could kick her ass together but..." she looked at the floor and sighed, "Never mind...see yah." she thrusted her hands in her pockets and walked off./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;""Oh? She seemed...cool." I muttered to Aya, but when I looked at her, I noticed she was trembling and gritting her teeth, "You Ok?"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;""Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" she snapped./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"I threw up my hands in a surrender, "Woah! Sorry."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"Aya nodded and sighed, "Sorry. It's just..."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;""You knew her? I kinda gathered. Don't worry about it. Come on, let's get to your room."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"When Aya unlocked the door and opened it I smiled in approval. The apartment was really clean and spacious. Definitely not too cramped or too small. This was a major difference to the outside of the apartment, since I felt like I was going faint at how run down it looked/spanspan style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;""Wow, nice place." I nodded slowly and looked around the room, slowly spinning around, getting the full picture of the room, "Now, go and cook us something to eat, while I get your outfit sorted."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"Immediately, I shooed her into her room, waited for her to strip and put her pyjamas on, and then shooed her back out again to cook dinner./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;""I-is this necessary, Reika-chan?" she asked through the door./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"I inner self fangirled at the way she called me -chan, "Of course!" I called lack, as I licked the end of the thread I was holding and threading it through the eye of the needle./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;" /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;""Now, where shall I start?" I smiled, opening my bag and pulling some fabric./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"Looking at the pile of clothes on the floor, I picked up the shirt and scowled, em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"wow this girl needs to learn some fashion tips/em. My inner self nodded in approval, examining the clothing quizzically./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"It took a lot of cutting, stitching and fabrics and mesh to create the final outfit, but all in all it took me around ten minutes to finish. And just in time too, for Aya had called me to say that dinner was ready./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"Immediately, I slammed open the door and leapt over the back of the sofa, collapsing into the seat, "You are going to love this." I grinned./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"Eagerly, I ate the dinner, not really paying attention to the flavour or quantity and finished it a lot sooner than Aya. I really wanted to show her the outfit./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;""No washing up now." I demanded, grabbing Aya's wrist as soon as she finished her dinner and pulled her from her seat dragging her into her room, "It can wait, but first you must check out your new outfit. No one will recognise you with your new hair and this!"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"Slowly I opened the door and switched on the light. Her outfit was hanging from the wardrobe, but I was not sure whether Aya was going to like it or not. Her expression was not any different, and I was nervous about whether she was going to like it or not./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"But I felt confident, "So what do you think?" I asked, smiling and hoping she would like it./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"Aya turned her head to look at me, her expression still no different, "You did this in under fifteen minutes?" she asked./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"I frowned, em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"damn, I knew I should have added more mesh and patterns. It's too basic./em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"But to my surprise she smiled, "It's amazing."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"My eyes widened and I grinned widely, squealing, "I knew it!" I threw my arms around her and hugged her tightly. She didn't hug me back, but that was to be expected, her being Itachi's cousin and all. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;" /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"After helping Aya with the washing up, I stifled a yawn and sighed, "I should better be heading off to sleep now. I am exhausted."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;""Really?" Aya replied, drying the final plate and putting it back in the cupboard./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;""Um, hello? We have been doing some kind of fun run all day today." I replied, poking her on the forehead, wondering if there were any feelings of fatigue in there./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"Aya did not seem impressed, but she smiled slightly anyway, "You don't mind sleeping on the sofa do you? You can have my bed if you want?"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;""No, no you're good. I normally fell asleep on the couch back at the hideout. I did not normally fall asleep in my bed, because I was always tired after hunting." I replied, shaking my hands in front of her and I was tempted to add, em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"and /emem style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"Hidan always found it amusing to sit on me if I did not wake up in the morning, /embut I don't think now is the time for humour./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;" /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"The couch wasn'/spanspan style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"t actually that uncomfortable, so I fell asleep really quickly. It felt like minutes until Aya awoke me the next morning. She shook me awake before opening the curtains, allowing the bright morning sun glare directly into my eyes./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;""What is it?" I squealed, covering my face with my hand and squinting in the light./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;""Academy in twenty minutes." Aya replied, pouring some cereal into two bowls, "Iruka-sensei is expecting us."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0cm; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: #222222; line-height: 24.0024px;"span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 16.0016px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"Huh, sensei. I don't see anyone as a sensei to me, but I guess I had better get used to having a sensei if I want to get respected around here. So I was up and dressed in mere moments, ready for the day ahead./span/p 


	6. First Day, First Crush

The walk to the academy was kind of awkward, since Aya was in no mood to talk, but I guess I see her point, she has the past to think about as well, so it could be uncomfortable for her.

The academy was only a small building, with dusty terrain, plain wooden floors inside and white walls. But I guess it was well maintained since there was virtually no dirt anywhere. I was actually starting to approve until two girls, one with pink hair and one with bright blonde hair rudely came running past us and into one of the classrooms almost knocking me off their feet, since they were so ignorant of my presence. I assume that the classroom they went into is ours since both the girls were our age. Aya sighed and walked over to the door they ran into. I peered inside.

The pink haired girl came to an abrupt halt in front of one of the desks. A boy, with pale skin, black eyes and black hair was sitting at that desk, a look of 'don't care' etched on his face. He definitely looks familiar. And hot, might I add.

 _Opportunity..._ my inner self gave me the thumbs up and grinned enthusiastically. I nodded to myself and grinned, batting my eyelashes to try and get the lad's attention. But it was impossible since pinky and pals came swarming around him, blocking him from my eye of sight.

"Morning Sasuke!" the girl smiled, her hands behind her back giving this 'Sasuke' the most sickeningly sweet smile I have ever seen.

A bunch of other girls came swooning around him as well.

That was when it clicked in, _ah, so that is why I know him. He is Aya's cousin! They look so alike it is hard to believe they are cousins. They look more like brother and sister!_

"So, that's your cousin." I grinned, looking through the door again trying to look over the top of the fangirls, "He's pretty hot, I must say."

Aya sighed and rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest, "Don't start."

I chuckled slightly before I heard footsteps behind us. More and more people came walking past us, but these ones were giving us cold or confused stares which was driving me nuts! I know this 'sensei' asked us to wait outside, but couldn't we have possibly waited in another room? I hate being stared at! I could feel my face heating up, but Aya put a hand on my shoulder and shook her head, so I calmed down.

A man cleared this throat behind us, making us both flick our heads round to look at him. He was wearing plain black jumpsuit with a hideous green waistcoat over the top. His skin was tanned and he had a scar, similar to mine, across his nose.

"Ah, you must be the new students." he smiled brightly and gave us a formal greeting by bowing low and shaking our hands firmly. This must be that Iruka-sensei, "Come, come, I'll introduce you to the others." he beckoned us into the classroom, where all the other students immediately took their seats, but the chatting did not die down, "Alright you lot, be quiet so I can speak." the whole room went silent, and I was surprised. This guy is clearly respected, so maybe my time here might not be so bad after all, "Ok everyone, we have two new students today. Reika Oshiro." I bowed slightly and smiled at the students, I might as well get along with them, "And Aya.." Iruka trailed off with a small frown, "What's your surname Aya?"

Aya did not look at him, she lowered her head and mumbled, "Just Aya." in a really slow blunt voice.

I frowned, I don't get what Aya's problem is. Just because she has been with the Akatsuki doesn't mean she needs to get bitter like all of them. Or am I just missing the point?

"Oh, Ok then, Aya." Iruka patted her shoulder, after a look of shock flashed across his face, "So if you see these two slightly lost, please help them out." Iruka smiled to the class again. I actually think this guy is really friendly, he could get my respect one day, "Now Reika, could you sit next to Kiba up there." he pointed to the top middle desk next to a boy in a grey hoodie and red markings on his eyes. I raised an eyebrow in curiousity, "And Aya..." he glanced around the room a little and pointed again, "Sit in that spare seat next to Sasuke."

 _Oh, damn_ , I sniggered slightly, _what are the odds?_

All the girls started to whisper and watch in disgust as Aya took her seat. She slipped her hands into her pockets and glared to the front of the class. _Jealous much?_ I walked up the steps and sat down next to Kiba and he smiled, not at all uncomfortable having me around, which is good, because I like confident people. I smiled back at him, while looking him up and down subtly

Before we could speak, Iruka picked up some sheets and pencils and started handing them out, "For this morning, I want you to work in pairs to solve these problems. Then after lunch we shall practise our combat skills."

"Ooh yay!" I cheered sarcastically, I hate problem solving. I rested my head in my hands and my eyes half closed, _The day has barely started and I am already bored._

Kiba chuckled, "You don't hide your emotions do you?"

I shook my head, grinning at him, "Nope, not at all. When Reika's around, all your gonna get is plain honesty!"

Kiba laughed again before holding his hand out, "I think we shall get along just fine. I'm Inuzuka Kiba. Good to meet you."

"You know my name, and it's nice to know you too." I took his hand and shook it firmly.

But then I froze in his grip. His hands were large and warm in my grasp. I looked up at him to get a good look at his face. It was slightly tanned and his eyes were sharp and determined with black slits for pupils. His eye teeth were rather elongated when he smiled and at the sides of his face were red fang like markings which gave him a rather dangerous nature. His hair was brown and messy, but it was covered by his hood.

 _Damn..._ My inner self whispered, dropping her pencil to the floor and bulging her eyes. I think I was doing exactly the same.

"Yo, you Ok?" Kiba asked after I zoned out for a second, gazing at his face.

"Huh?" I shook my head and blinked slightly, "Uh...yeah, sure."

"Good, then in that case, can I have my hand back now?" Kiba asked, smiling at me again, before looking in front of him.

I looked down and noticed I still had his hand in my grasp, "Oh..uh sorry." I mumbled, blushing a little and folding my arms across my lap. _God dammit! What is wrong with me, I am not normally like this!_

We both continued with our work, but it ended up being who can make the best stick men for our diagrams, and who can make the most exciting traps for our stick man figures to die in.

"I mean...yeah." I mumbled snatching the pencil from Kiba, "But what if, before your stick man threw the kunai, the branch collapsed below you? Then your angle and speed will be affected!" I drew some dotted lines and arrows to prove my theory.

"Yeah, but that's not the question we are asked. We need to find out what speed I would need the throw the kunai for it to hit you." Kiba answered back, grinning maliciously as he took back the pencil and drew a kunai dug into the stick me.

"But it never will hit me, because I'm too quick." I snatched the pencil again and rubbed out the knife before drawing a moustache on Kiba.

Kiba started laughing, "Ok now you're being daft."

"Not really!" I replied, grinning evilly, as I continued drawing random pictures on the paper.

"So, how are you doing?" Iruka-sensei asked, looking over at our work.

"Oh, uh great sensei! We are just working it out now." I replied, covering the diagram by leaning over the desk so he could not see it.

But Iruka swiped the paper up from under my arms and looked at it. He frowned, "Hmm, I see your art skills are impressive Reika, and I see where you are coming from." he put the paper back down on the desk and smiled, "But please stick to the question."

"But Kiba said that he has to be the one to hit me! Why am I the target? Surely that is unfair. And sexist! Just because I am a girl, it doesn't mean I am weak and oblivious, like this stupid stick person in the question!" I pointed accusingly at Kiba.

"Sexist?!" Kiba snapped, looking taken aback, "I'll have you know I am quite into women, and wouldn't let a damsel, such as this stick person, get hit by the kunai!"

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow, "What about if it were me in real life?"

"With the way things are going, I might reconsider my intentions." he folded his arms and looked at the ceiling, but I smirk did twitch on his lips.

Iruka shook his head and chuckled under his breath, "Just get the work done, please?"

He walked away before Kiba spoke again, "You know, this is actually the first time in a while I have stuck around in a lesson. Normally I am gone by now."

"Oh? And why's that?" I asked, looking up from the paper at him.

"Because I have Akamaru to look after." he replied, gazing out of the window, "I shouldn't leave him alone."

"Akamaru?" I repeated, looking out the window.

"My dog. We need to spend time training together." Kiba replied.

I looked at him, rather impressed, "So you and your dog are like partners then?"

Kiba nodded, "We are partners. No like about it. I am probably gonna go back and see him at lunch, but then I will come back for the second part of the lesson. Your quite fun to be around."

I nodded slowly, another blush gracing my cheeks, "Ok then..."

The rest of the day was actually a lot of fun. Combat skills was the best. I was partnered up with Aya, and we had to try and make the other drop first, but me and Aya went one step further and ended up fighting on the floor, dust flying up everywhere as we tried to pin he other down. But unfortunately, before one of us could win, Iruka and other sensei had to drag us away from each other, before the fight became too bloody. I only got away with a bleeding nose and graze elbows, while Aya got a grazed knee. But at least we got a reaction. All the students looked a little worried, and so did Iruka. But Kiba was laughing through the whole thing before patting me on the shoulder after.

Aya and me hi-fived each other before we headed to the nurses office to get our wounds patched up.

"So how are you finding the day so far?" Aya asked as the nurse bandaged up her leg.

"Yeah it's pretty good. Kiba is nice." I replied, holding a piece of tissue to my nose to stop the blood.

"Oh...Kiba." Aya cooed slowly, nodding her head slightly.

I glared at her, blushing a little again, _argh not again, I keep blushing and it is so embarrassing!_

The day came to an end and me and Aya were heading home when Kiba called me and walked up to us.

"Hey Reika. I was just wondering if you would like to, I dunno, go for a walk with me?" he scratched the back of his neck and scuffed the ground with his shoe, "You seem pretty cool and I wanna get to know you better."

That was an easy question to answer. I nodded quickly and looked over at Aya and smiled brightly.

Aya rolled her eyes and smiled a little.

"I'll meet you back at the apartment." I promised before skipping to Kiba's side and heading off in the other direction.

 _Ooh, I am so excited about this! What if he actually likes me?_


	7. Little Time Out

"So, Reika, where exactly were you from before you came to Konoha?" Kiba asked, as we strolled down the busy streets side by side.

I knew this question was gonna pop up, "Oh, I used to live in Iwagakure, but when my parents died, my uncle took me in before I arrived her. I didn't want to go back to Iwa."

Kiba nodded, turning his gaze away from me, a little embarrassed, "I'm sorry about your parents. Am I being nosy asking what happened?"

"House fire." I replied quickly, "Couldn't be helped."

Just talking briefly about what happened to my parents was hard enough. I still remember the event as if it were yesterday, and I still have nightmares about it even now.

Kiba said nothing, I think he could see the pain in my eyes.

A few minutes later, we arrived outside Kiba's house and I heard a little yapping sound coming towards us.

Kiba smiled and immediately turned around, "Akamaru!" he called, holding his arms out wide, "Hey, boy! How's it going?"

Akamaru was a really small dog which was white with black marks on his ears and eyes. Kiba picked up Akamaru and hugged him tightly.

"Aw, so cute!" I smiled, not going near Akamaru, however, because knowing me I will get bitten. Instead I kept my hands together on my lap

Akamaru looked over at me, an expressionless look on my face.

"Akamaru, this is my friend Reika-chan. She was new today." Kiba explained to Akamaru. He held my hand and placed it gently by Akamaru's nose and held it there, "Don't flinch. Let Akamaru get to know you." he smiled.

Just the fact that Kiba was holding my hand was enough to make me flinch. My inner self was cheering, _Go on Reika! He's totally into you!_ I shook my head quickly, trying to ignore her.

Gently, Akamaru sniffed the palm of my hand with his little nose, before giving a little yap of excitement, his tail wagging wildly.

"Ha, see? He's just accepted you!" Kiba laughed, "He'll let you touch him now."

I was still a little nervous. I have never touched a dog before. Slowly, I moved my hand toward Akamaru's head, and placed it directly at the top. Akamaru moved his head, allowing me to stroke his ears. A giggle escaped my lips as the little dog's tail continued to wag, and he started licking my hand.

Kiba smiled again, "Good boy Akamaru!" he praised his dog, before placing him on the ground again.

"He's so sweet." I grinned as I watched Akamaru play in the grass.

"Yeah. I got him a few years ago, and he is the only proper friend I have. That is, until you came along" Kiba blushed a little, smiling at me.

I was so flattered by this comment. I looked into Kiba's eyes again and he looked into mine, "You really think that?" I asked.

"Yeah. I think me and you are going to get on so well." Kiba nodded, putting a hand on my shoulder.

My inner self began doing skipping around, _He likes you! He loves you! Blah blah blah..._

That is when I heard Akamaru growling slightly. At first I thought it was because me and Kiba were not paying enough attention to him, but when I turned to look at him, he was growling at a blackbird which was hopping around the grass digging for worms. Akamaru pounced for it, but messed up completely tumbling across the floor.

Kiba sighed, "Akamaru. You seriously need to work on your stealth."

I blinked and an idea came into my head, "Give me one minute." I pointed up a finger, and reached into my bag for my sewing kit.

I pulled out a needle, a tonne of thread and loads of scrap pieces of material.

"What you doing, Reika-Chan?" Kiba asked as I sat down on the grass and set to work stitching.

I said nothing as I continued to work until two minutes had passed and I held up my creation. It was a stuffed bird, the same size and shape as the blackbird (only it was purple, because that is the only colour fabric I have at the moment). I handed it over to Kiba.

"Here. For Akamaru. It's to help him with his stealth. While I'm away, you can help him with a stationary bird, but when I am here, I can make it move with my chakra. So...yeah." I looked at the floor and scuffed it, blushing slightly, with the sole of my shoe. _Godammit! I'm doing it again!_

Kiba looked at the bird, then at me, "Reika..." he whispered, a blank expression on his face, "You made this to help us with our training?"

I looked at him, "It's no biggy. I can create loads of them in minutes."

I was not sure whether Kiba was impressed or not, but then he smiled brightly at me, "That's so nice you you! Thanks Reika!" he hugged me tightly, to my shock horror before he turned to Akamaru, "Look Akamaru! Look what Reika made us. Now we can work on sneak attacks and train even harder."

After a few minutes of helping Akamaru and Kiba training, I heard a call from inside his house, and a woman come out. She was young with brown hair tied in a ponytail, and she too had the marks on her cheeks.

"Kiba!" she called, opening the door.

Kiba looked up, "Hi sis!" he called back, walking towards her.

His sister smiled, "How was the academy?"

"Meh. Same old. Oh, but I met someone!" he looked over at me and beckoned me forward.

I was not one to be shy, so I stepped forward and looked at Kiba's sister, putting on a polite smile.

"Sis, this is Reika. She's new today, and she is super cool!" Kiba introduced me.

I bowed slightly.

"Ah, nice to meet you Reika. I'm Inuzuka, Hana. My, my Kiba, it's not like you to bring a girl back here." Hana teased her brother ruffling his hair.

Kiba's cheeks went slightly red, "Wh...what are you talking about?" he asked her, "Reika's a friend. And she is a talented artist. Look, she made this bird so me and Akamaru can train. She can use chakra to make it fly."

Hana seemed impressed, "I see." she smiled at me, "Thanks for that. My brother here doesn't take training seriously. I guess you're a kick up the ass for him."

I laughed along with Hana, while Kiba growled slightly.

"Not now Hana!" he hissed at her.

They didn't seem very friendly, but I guess that is the sibling relationship/rivalry for you.

"So, Reika." Hana looked at me again, after we calmed down, "Would you like to come in for a bite to eat?"

I thought for a second, then shook my head, "I really shouldn't. I promised to meet with my room mate Aya about now. But I will definitely come back some other time."

Hana chuckled, "I look forward to it. Some other time then, yes?"

I nodded, "Definitely, that's a promise."

I really like the company of Kiba, Akamaru and Hana. I will definitely get along with them well. That and Aya in two days? I guess I am making great progress into making friends with the people of Konoha. And I hope that there will be more to come.


	8. Check Up Already?

Aya had not returned home when I arrived back at the apartment, and I sighed loudly, _Why didn't she tell me she was going out? I could have stayed at Kiba's!_ My inner self was pulling on her hair she was so annoyed.

But I decided to be nice, "Tell you what." I said to myself, "I shall make us both some dinner!" and immediately I set to work, opening all the cupboards and the fridge in search of decent food and ingredients, "Hm," I muttered to myself, hauling a ton of ingredients out of the cupboards and throwing them onto the counter, "I think with this I can make some Miso soup! I am a bit of a pro. Even if I say so myself. Learnt from the best Mummy in the world!"

But before I could get a word in edgeways, I heard a knock at the door.

"Aya! I smiled to myself as I skipped over and opened the door. But it was not Aya at the door. It was Dei-Dei and Sasori, "Uh...how did you get here?"

"Oh, hi Reika." Dei-Dei said sarcastically, rolling his eyes into his head, "How you doing?"

"Seriously, what the hell are you doing here?" I replied, squinting my eyes and folding my arms, the wooden spoon still in my hand.

"I suppose you won't let us in either? Have us stand out here for the whole of Konoha to see." Dei-Dei added, barging right past me and collapsing on the couch.

Sasori sighed, "You have no sense of hospitality, Deidara. Thank you." he muttered when I let him pass, his cute smile on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry Sasori. What should I do. Make tea? Say please and thank you? Bring flowers to our next get together?"  
"Shut it!" I hissed at my uncle, who was seriously getting on my nerves, "Now seriously, what do you want? Aya could be back any minute."

Deidara started picking at the couch and smiled, "Just wanted to see how you're doing. We were walking past and wanted to say hello."

"...Ok..." I muttered, watching as Sasori started observing the room, "Anything else?"

"Itachi wanted to know how Aya is getting on." Sasori replied briefly, examining some of the photos on the wall. The majority of them were of Aya and her parents, but one of them was a photo of her, Sasuke and Itachi playing when they were all young, "She looks happy." Sasori muttered, touching the frame of the photo.

I nodded slowly, "She's nothing like that now. But she seems Ok. She has definitely perked up, seeing Sasuke again. Yes they are not getting on very well, but being back here in a comfortable environment is definitely making her more active and sociable."

Dei-Dei nodded, "Well, that's good to hear. Itachi was hoping nothing too sinister would happen. It is not unheard of that newbies are put in some kind of quarantine in case they are a spy. You two got in without a problem."

I agreed, "Yeah, I guess we did."

The room went silent for a second, then Sasori cropped another question, "So how are you getting along?"

I looked at him with a little shock appearing on my face, Sasori has never been this curious before, "Fine, I guess. The people are nice here. And I have made a couple of friends already."

"Ha! Reika? Making friends? That's a new one!" Dei-Dei laughed to himself, until I stormed over and smacked him on top of his head with the spoon, "OW! What did you do that for?"

"Just because. At least I am not a sadist like some people." I glared at him from the corner of my eye, and then started laughing.

"Who you calling a sadist?" Dei-Dei snapped, getting out of his seat, clenching his fist.

I backed off a few steps, still smiling, "I wouldn't attack if I were you. This is Aya's house and I don't think she, or Itachi, would appreciate it being ruined."

Dei-Dei paled slightly at hearing this. He is not a huge fan of Itachi, and I guess knowing two Uchiha's are in the frame put him off even more.

He then sighed, "Right. That's our little catch up sorted out. Let's get out of here before Aya, or anyone for that matter, find out we are here."

Sasori agreed and headed for the door, but not before giving me a small smile, "Good luck Reika. Oh, and here, you forgot to take this with you."

He reached into his pocket and held up a pretty silver heart shaped locket. I gasped loudly. It was mother's old locket. Dei-Dei told me that mother clipped it round my neck before she died in the fire, and making me promise not to lose it.

Immediately I wrapped my arms around Sasori, "Thank you." I whispered to him.

( _Note: I am NOT making a love story with Sasori and Reika. It's more of a brother/sister relationship)_

Sasori smiled again, "No problem." But when he heard Dei-Dei clear his throat, the smile disappeared and he turned to look at him.

"Let's go." Dei-Dei said, holding the door open for him.

Sasori sighed, "Whatever. See you Reika." he left the building.

I thought Dei-Dei was going to follow, but when Sasori left he crept back over to me and knelt down in front of me, "Listen, you know I hate mush, so I will make this quick. Promise me you will be careful, because there are a lot of people out there who will slaughter you in the blink of an eye."

I nodded and rolled my eyes, "I know that."

Dei-Dei chuckled, rather embarrassed, "Look, I know this is not like me, but your father made me promise to look after you, and I am doing that by giving you advice. Don't get into trouble, and don't act all high and mighty like you do sometimes."

"Yeah yeah." I replied, dozing off a little.

Dei-Dei shook his head, but grinned, "Ignorant as ever." he got back to his feet, gave me a quick hug then said, "See you soon."

And with that he left, closing the door behind him. Leaving me to finally make some Miso soup. But I couldn't stop thinking about the locket Sasori gave me. I feel so ashamed knowing I left it back at the hideout. It means a lot to me, so I cannot lose it. Mother locked some secrets within the locket, and if anyone found out about them, trust me, there will be more than Anbu Black Ops after me.


	9. My Little Doll

Aya arrived not long after the bozos left. She slowly opened the door and closed it gently. I looked up and noticed she looked a little down.

 _Oh god,_ I thought, _What crap has been going on now?_

But I said nothing and smiled brightly, "I found some ingredients in the fridge to make Miso soup. Surely you don't mind?" I tried not to make that a question, because it's too late to save the ingredients.

Aya, to my relief, shook her head, "Of course not." she replied, before walking into her room and closing the door.

 _Huh,_ I thought, stirring the pot again, _I know she is not exactly the most cheerful person in the world, but I don't see why she is going all Itachi-emo-depressed at the moment._

But I decided to leave her alone, so she can let her mind swim a little by herself. Luckily it was not long until I plated up dinner and called Aya out of her room. Don't see the point in why she went in in the first place.

"Ta-daah!" I cheered in a really derpy way, presenting Aya with her bowl of, actually rather decent smelling, soup.

I hopped onto the couch next to her and watched while she ate, before slurping up a mouthful myself. The silence was doing my head in so I started to go all gossip girl.

"Did you know how amazing Kiba is?" I asked, looking up at the ceiling, trying to remember his dreamy face.

But all I got in return was a "I was here before Reika, remember?"

I felt a vein pop out of my head, before I forced out a, "Oh yeah." before grinning slightly, slurping up some noodles and chewing quite loudly, "He is funny, a rebel, never really does anything by the book." I giggled at remembering the stick men drawings on our question paper, "And he has an adorable dog named Akamaru. He's so cute. I think I might have a crush." There wasn't really any doubt about it. Kiba is gonna be mine someday.

"Another one?" Aya sighed, and when I looked at her confused she continued, "You had a crush on Sasuke when we first arrived at the academy."

I snorted and scowled at that name, "I know, but Sasuke has too many admirers. I hate competing. Beating them is too boring and easy for me." _That's old news darling,_ my inner self added, making a dismissive gesture with her hand.

Aya did not seem entirely impressed, but when she put her spoon and bowl down she looked at me with her glittering eyes, "I wish I had feelings like you again. There was someone that I liked before I left the village."

I crossed my legs and twisted my body to look over at Aya, my head completely engaged in the conversation now, "Oh? Who? What happened?"

Aya sighed again and replied, "Neji Hyuga."

My eyes felt like they were going to burst out of their sockets, "Ooh, a Hyuga." I thought about the clan for a second with their Kekkai Genkai and awesome Byakugan, "Interesting choice, but I see where you are coming from. Carry on."

And Aya did, talking about how she and him met after the academy to do training, and how she actually was happy to be alive. But since she met up with Itachi again, she didn't want to turn him away again. After training and awakening her Sharingan, she felt hatred, so her feelings left her, an empty hollow shell. I understood everything, but I cannot say much, because I have not suffered the same way she has. My emotions are still here (yes probably immature and not the best emotions and attitudes, but they are still here).

"And you met this Hyuga and was partnered up with Sasuke?" I asked

Aya nodded, "Both were bitter and cynical. Neither of them were as happy as before I left. They were both depressed and sour."

"They both cared for you I see." I replied, trying to keep the moral ground, because this girl really needs the support, but also needs to get over this pity, "The loss of you was their hurdle and they failed to jump it. It's not your fault it happened. You just followed the path you needed to. Things will get better from here, and who knows, maybe one day you can reveal who you really are, and you will find happiness again." I smiled at her as best as I could, the fragile girl needs some support. And big time.

Aya sighed, "You're a good one Reika. I hope you are right. I really do."

I smiled again, "Come on now. We should be getting to sleep. We need to be fully energised for tomorrow."

I grabbed Aya's hand and dragged her into her room, "Get your pyjamas on while I go to the bathroom."

And in a flash I headed to the bathroom and started to wash my face. As my fingers ran past my scar, I remembered everything that happened during the fire.

 _"Little Reika-chan. Please don't cry. Mummy doesn't like seeing her little doll so sad." Mother stroked my cheek as the flames started to snag the apron she was wearing. She flinched as the flames bit into her leg, but she remained strong, picked me up in her warm arms and climbed the ladder into the attic of the house. She placed me in the corner and smiled again, "Don't worry, little doll. Mummy will always be with you. You may not see me, but I am there. Watching your every move."_

 _I started to cry even more as Mother stood up, her skin on her leg going bright red and peeling off. Mother undid the clasp of the locket she wore on her neck and clasped it round my neck instead._

 _"Look after this for Mummy, Reika-chan. It has lots of memories and secrets inside. Do not open it, until you need it." Mother explained, before planting one more small kiss on my forehead and whispering, "Mummy will always love you Reika-chan. My little doll." and she left, back down the ladder and into the inferno._

 _I never saw her again._

I gasped loudly before splashing more water onto my face and gazing back into the mirror, _Don't do that!_ I hissed to myself as I dried my face off. But then I snagged a spot on my scar again.

"Ow!" I growled out loud.

For some reason my scar has always been an open wound. It never closed up properly and I have no idea why. It never bleeds and never becomes infected. It's just so strange, but I never examine it further, just in case it gets worse.

After cleaning my teeth, I rubbed my head and climbed into bed. Aya set one up in her room before a spare room is going to be emptied out for me.

I couldn't get to sleep, but that is quite common. I always have those nights where the past comes and hits me in the face. And by golly it was one of those nights.


	10. Secrets of Hitomi Uchiha

The weeks rolled on by, and the academy ended up being not that bad. Yeah, maybe I did not end up with some of the greatest scores on tests, but at least I managed to prove my strength with all of our physical and jutsu lessons. Me and Kiba work together an awful lot of the time, and I frequently go and walk home with him when the academy day is over. I have also noticed that Aya and Sasuke have been getting on a lot better as well. I think I have actually seen the pair of them actually crack a smile every now and again.

The day started off as per usual, Aya oversleeping and me having to pinch her awake. Gently, I sat down on her bed next to her sleeping body and pinched her cheeks between my finger and thumb, "Wakey wakey, sleeping Aya-chan." I whispered, "Graduations start today."

Aya stirred and screwed up her eyes before opening them a small fraction and grunting as always. But as soon as she saw it was me she closed her eyes again and fell asleep.

I sighed and pouted before grabbing her arm and tugging her out of the bed and topple to the floor, "Come on lazy bones! We need to get to the academy otherwise we will be disqualified." _And if Dei-Dei found out that I failed to become a stupid Genin, then I won't hear the end of it..._ my Inner Self started puffing out her cheeks.

Aya did not seem to move for a second and just remained sprawled on the floor, but when I gave her the threat of giving her a wake up boot, she was quickly on her feet and getting dressed in a flash. While she was doing so, I headed to the kitchen to whip up some breakfast. But the only breakfasty thing in the cupboards were cereal and milk.

"Woo, looks delicious." I muttered to myself grabbing two bowls and pouring the cereal into the bowls, "Could have at least had some pancake mix or something a bit more adventurous. All the Akatsuki ever eat is plain cereal or toast."

Aya opened the door to her room and stood at my side, adjusting her wrappings on her arms before picking up her cereal bowl and pouring milk into the bowl before collapsing on the sofa next to me.

 _Huh, good morning to you too Aya-chan_ , I thought before pouring milk onto my cereal and started a conversation, "So what do we do to become Shinobi?"

Aya shrugged her shoulders and ate her final mouthful of cereal, "Probably a doppleganger or something like that."

 _A what? Great, the exam is based on something that I have never even heard of! What are the odds of me graduating then?!_ "A what what?" I asked, hoping that I misheard her or something.

"A clone. A doppleganger. Whatever you prefer." Aya replied, adjusting her sandals onto her feet and heading to the door.

I nodded slowly, "Oh." _At least now that I now what a dopple-blah-blah is, at least now there is actually a good chance of me graduating,_

But when we arrived at the academy, something wasn't right. We arrived early to see if we could do some last minute training, so we were expecting the academy to be virtually empty. But we could hear voices. A few of them. And I could hear a name being mentioned. Not entirely sure who it was though.

As we edged closer, the voices became clearer, "I swear Neji-kun. Her body is gone. I have no idea where it has gone or who was last with it. We are just saying, Hitomi's body has vanished. No traces were left either." I peered round the corner and saw that it was a medical ninja speaking with Iruka, Neji and Sasuke.

 _Hitomi?_ I thought to myself, _Now why does that name ring a bell?_

"A body cannot just vanish. Was there anything, anything at all, left behind?" Iruka asked, looking at the medical nin with a suspicious glance.

The medical nin hesitated, "W..well, there was a log left in its place. It could have been put there, or..." he trailed off.

"Then maybe there was a substitution. It may have happened before she was killed! Hitomi might still be alive!" Sasuke interrupted, before I heard him come running in our direction.

I was debating whether to grab Aya and run, but then the footsteps came to a halt, so I stopped and continued to listen from behind the wall.

"No, no Sasuke. Your graduation is today. Do not be foolish. Wait a while and a search and rescue will take place." Iruka spoke to Sasuke, a hand on his shoulder and gently leading him back to the classroom, "There must be an explanation for all this."

Neji then spoke, as he folded his arms and took a step forward, "And I believe I know what is going on. I bet that this new girl, Aya, knows more than she is letting on. The time she disappeared and the time Hitomi was killed does not add up."

 _Wow this guy is seriously clever. It would seem he has done the maths, but I still am not one hundred percent sure I remember everything that is going on. I should have paid more attention to the Akatsuki meetings, then maybe I would be more aware of what is going on._

"I agree." Sasuke muttered, "Then we shall have to deal with Aya."

 _Oh god,_ I thought as I turned to look at Aya, who was listening really hard and intently at the conversation. Her hands were clenched and her teeth were chattering in rage. Sasuke had better know what he is doing threatening Aya like that.

The conversation carried on, me trying my hardest to pay attention to what was going on, but after a while I began to lose interest and just leaned against the wall and stared at the ceiling until I heard the medical nin speak up.

"Ok, I shall be heading off. I shall do more investigating and call back to you all if I find out anything new." he said before walking off in the other direction.

"I am making my leave too. The sooner we find Hitomi the better." Neji added before leaving as well.

 _Aw, so cute! Neji has feelings for this Hitomi girl! How super cute. I hope they find her soon. It would be so kawaii! But then again, what about Aya? Ok, maybe not as adorable as I hoped._

That only left Sasuke and Iruka, who were left outside the classroom. Both of them did not really say anything but then they both headed back inside, and that is where we should be heading too if we want any chance of having just a little bit of training.


	11. Simple Graduated

Taking a few more steps towards the classroom, the name Hitomi began to spark in my mind, _there definitely is something about that name that I am not aware of. Am I missing something?_ Then I thought again, _Aya's name was also mentioned in the conversation. There must be a link between the two of them._ I asked Aya to see what she thought of all this.

"Why are those people talking about you, Aya-chan?" I looked into the girl's eyes, but they were grave and not particularly panicky or confused.

"They think I have a connection with the missing girl, Hitomi Uchiha." she replied, her face starting to get more anxious and twitchy at the name.

I knew there was something about them. _Maybe they are more closely related than,_ I thought, "Well you might be related to her. She is an Uchiha after all. By the way, why you never admit to the others you are an Uchiha? Maybe that could give them a lead."

I think I might have gotten a little to wrapped up in the subject because Aya just rolled her eyes at me, before gritting her teeth and scanning the room. Suddenly, she grabbed my by my collar and dragged me into a nearby closet. I am not usually one to get annoyed, but this was getting way out of hand for my liking. Nobody throws me around like that.

"What is wrong with you?" I snapped rather loudly, forcing her hand off my shirt and glaring at her with piercing blue eyes.

But Aya's face went just a fierce, which made my double take slightly, "Listen here. The reason I am having trouble here is because I _am_ Hitomi Uchiha. I am not Aya."

My mind went numb and spun for a second. The girl I had been following around was Hitomi Uchiha. Itachi never told me about his cousin, so I never knew her proper name or identity. In fact, I don't think any of the Akatsuki had that much of an idea about her.

"The reason people assume I am dead," Aya began again, "is because of a Genjutsu I used. That is why I hide my identity, because if the people here know who I am they will ask me a tonne of questions that could blow the cover of the Akatsuki. Itachi, my cousin, in particular." Aya went out of breath after that slight rant, but I was not going to snap back, because instead of anger and betrayal hitting me, I felt sympathy and guilt.

I remember when we arrived at Konoha her saying that the people assumed she was dead, but I never actually took that into account. No wonder she has been so shifty, like around that Kaze girl, and I continued to annoy her and make her do stuff that could have gotten her in trouble.

"Oh, Aya," I sighed, my guilt smearing across my face, "why did you not tell me this before? I thought you were just a lonely Uchiha. I would have understood properly. I am so sorry." those were some words that extremely rarely escape my lips, so I hope that she was going to accept them.

Aya turned her back on me and took in a deep breath, "What I just said. Not a single soul can know. Otherwise I will have to kill them."

I guess I could not have expected more from her after this little row, so I just nodded and said, "Your secret is as good as mine." at least the people I tell will die and not me...

Then, guess what? She turned back round and smiled a cute smile at me. I was so relieved that I couldn't help smiling back. And at last, our little conversation was over and we did not mention anything about it as we left for class.

Well, at least one thing came out of this little event. And that is that Neji Hyuga has a crush on my little Aya-chan! Whether I am happy or not, however, I am not so sure...

We were the last ones to arrive to class and when we opened the door and entered, we were greeted with many blank and disapproving faces.

Iruka was half way through a lecture when we arrived, and he did not seem particularly pleased that we interrupted his precious speech, "Ah, Aya, Reika, so nice of you to join us at last."

 _Alright,_ I thought, _no need to get assy surely._

Aya just grunted, not even looking at Iruka and headed for her seat next to Sasuke, but I couldn't let this opportunity slide, so I made a crazy pose before shouting at the top of my voice, "Good morning one and all!" and making a strange jazz hands pose before skipping up the steps to sit by Kiba at the back.

Nobody really smiled much, but Kiba managed to make my performance less embarrassing by covering his laughs into his coat. Even Aya didn't react, but I guess I shouldn't have expected much out of her. Oh well.

After even more minutes of Iruka lecturing, we finally got to the exciting part.

"Now, I am going next door and I shall be calling you all in one at a time so you can take the test. You are going to perform the clone jutsu." Iruka headed to the door and smiled before calling out the first name, "Uchiha, Sasuke."

Quickly I blocked my ears to try and ignore the shrill screams of, "Woo, go Sasuke!" from all the screaming fangirls, before slamming my head onto the desk.

"Make them stop!" I hissed, slowly banging my head on the desk, until the room went quiet again, so there was no more than a slight murmur from the others. Quickly, I lifted my head and grinned, before throwing my hands in the air again and shrieking in an irritating voice, "Woo go Sasuke!" before reaching my fingers into my mouth to fake gag, "Bleh!"

I think I may have broke Kiba at that point, because when I turned to look at him, he was genuinely crying with laughter, and he didn't stop for a good few minutes.

More people came and went, all wielding headbands and showing them off to each other.

"Ooh, look at me and my _amazing_ headband that looks _exactly_ the same as everyone else's." I did an impression of Ino Yamanaka, who was holding her headband in front of Sakura Haruno and gloating. Of course that was not _quite_ what she said but me and Kiba were having fun.

"Do you think Sasuke will notice me with this headband?" Kiba added, making his voice really high pitched.

Then I pretended to be Sakura, "No way because you don't stand out. At least when I have a headband it will cover my huge forehead. And of course _I_ will pass because I am all brains, but will probably end up dead in a ditch because I have no particular skill at using jutsu in combat. Maybe then Sasuke will notice _me_! When I am lying in my coffin!"

Me and Kiba stifled our laughter and Kiba playfully punched me on the shoulder.

"Dude that was so cold!" he tried to sound serious, but it failed.

"What, it's true though. Sakura is hopeless at combat. Remember the time I beat her just by tripping her over and sitting on her?"

Kiba laughed and nodded, "Yeah, that was pretty funny."

That was when I heard Aya's name being called out, and quickly, she left the room to take her exam.

I went quiet in anticipation, as I waited for Aya to return with her headband. There was no way she was going to fail these exams. She has more talent than me, and way more knowledge than Sakura (well I guess) so she will pass easily.

But then something caught my attention. The sound of flaring chakra and jutsus sounded from the next room, making everyone, including me and Kiba, go quiet.

"Aya-chan!" I shouted, jumping out of my seat and heading for the door, _damn, she's done something stupid hasn't she?_ I thought as I opened the door. But standing in the way was Iruka, who had a grave expression on his face.

"Ok, all of you, if you have already graduated the exam, you can go out for your lunch break early. The rest of you, stay here until you are called in. Something came to mind and cannot be avoided, so I will not be here to assess you. Instead, Mizuki will be assessing the rest of you. Who does that involve?" Iruka explained to all the startled faces of the students.

Me and Kiba raised our hands and it seemed we were the only ones who were affected, so Iruka nodded slowly.

"Ok, I guess this does not cause too much inconvenience. Again, I apologise but I will be back in time to see you to your squads tomorrow." Iruka left quickly, but not before I noticed him carrying a solid mass away with him.

"What happened?" all the students began to murmur, "You don't suppose anything too bad happened do you?"

"What do you think was so severe?" Kiba asked me, leaning in closer to whisper into my ear.

I shrugged slowly, but in my head I had a good idea as to what happened, _Aya..._

Kiba arrived back, his arms folded and grinning ear to ear, after he graduated the exam easily.

"That test was child's play. Dunno why I didn't graduate sooner." he sat down next to me.

I just nodded, "Congrats." I managed to mumble, but my mind was spinning again. Something bad happened in that room, and I want to know what. _What happened to Aya? She did not come back from taking her test. Something must be wrong, and Iruka is not telling me._

"By the way, have you ever noticed the burn marks in the room next door?" Kiba asked, looking at me from the corner of his eye.

I looked at him confused, "Burn marks?" I repeated.

"Yeah, dark black and they are covering the far wall and a bit of the floor and ceiling. Never noticed it before." Kiba explained, placing his finger to his chin and thinking back.

 _Great,_ I thought, _I bet that was Aya. I think that conversation she heard earlier really did get to her more than I thought. I really should have noticed sooner._

A man poked his head through the door, "Oshiro, Reika?" he said in a rather quiet voice.

"That's Mizuki." Kiba explained, "He'll assess you next door. I'll wait for you here, then we'll have lunch back at my place if you want?"

I nodded slowly, "Sure." and quickly, I trudged next door, mostly to see what damage had been done, but also to graduate.

Kiba was right about the burn marks. They looked pretty extreme if you ask me. And they were fresh.

 _Definitely Aya._ I thought, observing the marks and stroking my fingers across the wall. The burn marks left a lovely black stain on the tips of my fingers, clearly showing how new they were.

"Don't worry about the mess, Reika-chan." Mizuki smiled at me sweetly, sitting down at the desk with two remaining headbands.

 _Huh, I wonder who the failure was?_ I wondered, looking down at the headbands with slight nerves, but also disgust. Having Aya away from me seems to unleash a more dark side of me, and I admit it. Being alone and uncomfortable makes me think of some rather sinister thoughts. Like at the moment, I was wondering how good the headband would look with an nice slice through the symbol. I chuckled slightly before looking at Mizuki, the smile completely wiped off my face.

"Where's Aya-chan?" I asked.

"In safe hands." was all I got out of Mizuki, and the sweetness made me so sick, I made sure my test was quick.

With a few hand signs, my clones were produced allowing me to graduate the academy.

All Mizuki got to say from me was, "Congratulations, you graduate." and he handed me a headband.

I briskly grabbed it out of his hands, thanked him with a sweet, but deceptive, smile before flaunting out the room to greet Kiba again.

 _Being a Shinobi,_ I thought, a malicious grin forming on my lips, _bit of a joke of a title for someone like me._


	12. How Did They Die?

The sneer did not disappear from my face until the evening came. At the hospital, the nurse refused to let me see Aya-chan because she was still in a fragile condition. My reaction to that was rolling my eyes before flaunting out of the entrance, muttering under my breath. I knew for a fact she was going to be back to normal as soon as she woke up. But becoming a Shinobi may become a different matter entirely.

I spent the rest of the afternoon with Kiba, otherwise I was going to be back at the apartment on my own doing nothing special in particular. As many people must be aware by now, I hate being bored and alone. It brings out my hunting instincts...making me want to...entertain myself...

It was sunset when I arrived back at the apartment. Hana had kindly let me stay for dinner this evening, and this time I could not refuse the offer, since Aya was not going to be awake to cook dinner for. Aya had clearly arrived back from the hospital, because all her belongings had been dumped on the sofa as usual, and the door to her bedroom was closed, when usually it is open. I could not help feeling slightly concerned for Aya's well being, no matter how hard I tried, I knew I had to check up on her. I actually cared. Slowly, I twisted the handle on her bedroom door and opened the door quietly. She was lying in bed, the sheets neatly draped up to her neck, her eyes were firm shut and her mouth was partly open. In the silence, I could hear her slow breaths leaving her lips and slight moans when she breathed out. I knelt down to the side of her and touched her hair with the palm of my hand.

 _A pretty little beast,_ I thought to myself examining her closer, running my fingers through the thick mane of darkness, _That pale, soft, untouched skin, that thick, lustrous, jet black hair, those skinny arms and those..._ I curled my fingers around her hand under the sheets, before pulling it out and examining it closer, _Those fragile little hands. Those dainty fingers. Those strong, shining fingernails._

"How can you be this...beautiful?" I whispered to her, but of course I got no reply. Then I closed my eyes and chuckled, "Of course. You're an Uchiha. And Uchiha's are so beautiful it is almost inhumane. Take a look at Sasuke-kun and that flock of girls who swoon around him. After all, you are his cousin."

Gently, I lowered her hand back under the sheets and left her room to get ready for bed.

Touching my scar on my nose again, I could feel more of my childhood begin to unravel.

*Years ago*

 _"Mummy, mummy, look at this!" I grinned, holding up a clay rabbit I made out of some of Father's 'special' clay._

 _Mother clapped her hands slightly when she examined my creation in my hands, "It's wonderful Reika-chan!"_

 _I smiled brighter and giggled, "I want to keep it forever and ever!"_

 _"Keep it for as long as you want, my little doll. But be careful. That clay can be dangerous if you mess around with it too much." Mother replied, giving me a gentle warning before holding out her hand to me, "Right, I need to go to the shops to buy us something for tea. What would you like?"_

 _"Mummy's monjayaki!" I shouted out eagerly._

(Note: Monjayaki is a type of pancake with seafood or vegetables in)

 _Mother chuckled lightly, "What a silly question. We'll go get the ingredients." she said, before me and her headed out and into the market._

 _"Ok, Reika-chan, why don't you go and pick some of the cabbage from over there?" Mother pointed at one of the lower shelves, "Go and make sure it's a good one."_

 _I was still holding my clay creation in my hand when I rushed over to the shelves. Unfortunately there was a plank of wood jutting out of the ground and I tripped over it, sending me, and the clay rabbit flying into the air._

 _I screamed loudly and my eyes went wide as my creation hit the ground._

 _"Reika!" Mother shouted, whisking me into her arms and running out of the shop before a massive explosion was sounded, blowing the roof off of the building, and leaving gallons of smoke rising out of the windows and into the air._

 _Everyone knew who caused the explosion. It couldn't have been Mother, because it was not her born with the explosion technique. That only left me. I was the one who blew up the shop. I was the one who allowed the Jonin and Anbu Black Ops of the village come running after us. I was the one who put my parents in danger. Why was I not the one left to die? Why did my parents rescue me? Why did they have to die? Why did Deidara take me away? It was all me. I killed my parents. Everything was my fault. Everything..._

*Now*

"Everything..." I muttered to myself as I dried my face with the soft cotton towel, "Are they dead because of me? Because of my carelessness?" Then I grinned, "I will avenge you, Mother, Father. I may have been the one who put you in danger in the first place, but you shouldn't have died. Neither of you should have died."

With those final words, and a malicious grin on my face, I lay down in my bed and closed out the real world.


	13. Together as Graduates

Ok, Ok, I guess I can say I was a little 'moody' yesterday, but today I actually felt a little better. No the idea of avenging my parents is still an intention of mine, but the flashbacks didn't mean so much to me after that long sleep.

Aya was still asleep when I awoke the next morning, so I decided to leave her in peace, _Wow,_ I thought, thinking about Aya all the way to the academy that morning, _whatever Aya-chan did yesterday, it must have been immense. To have knocked her out like that it must have been impressive,_ then I smiled, satisfying myself with the thought, _At least Aya's complexion was not ruined by those flames, or whatever. She cannot be pure with all those marks left behind,_ I cupped her cool cheek again and smiled, _Uchiha...Uchiha...beautiful Uchihas..._

Kiba grinned at me when I walked through the door to the classroom and beckoned me over to sit next to him as per usual. The light feeling that always sparked when I was around him made my dizzy with anticipation. Or maybe it's my Inner Self skipping around my head, fangirling as hard as she so desires, knowing it will never happen in the real world.

"So, how does it feel to finally realize you are a Shinobi?" he asked, giving me a sidelong glance, a look of pride on his tanned face.

I took my seat and grinned, making up a load of lies, "Oh, it feels... _awesome."_ I lied, putting on the most innocent smile I could, "To be able to serve this village...Konoha!" I nearly forgot what the village was called.

Luckily I was saved from any more awkward questions, when the classroom door opened and in walked Aya, a dazed but awake and determined expression on her pale face.

I quickly ran over and jumped directly in front of her, "Morning sleepy! Gosh you missed dinner last night and I don't think you even heard me come in! You were asleep long before I came back, and I was up and about before you this morning. Yesterdays exam really must have been intense!" I giggled slightly, talking rather rapidly, jumping on my toes. Having Aya back in my world made me feel more secure. I think that she is the only one who can help me maintain my emotions, so I am glad she has finally gained conciousness. She is definitely the rock I have been needing my whole life.

Aya looked up at me, still a little sleepy looking and gave a quiet grunt before she turned to have a look at all the graduates in the room.

My eyes closed slightly in annoyance, but I decided to shrug it off, and asked, "Anyway, I heard what happened. The walls of the exam room are all black and burnt. Are you sure you only did a couple of clones? Or did you add another jutsu to spice it up?"

Aya shrugged her shoulders gently, "I blacked out after I did the clones. I have no idea what I was doing."

I nodded, pretending to understand what she was talking about, but to be honest, I didn't really have a clue what she could have done, unless she accidentally unleashed some kind of jutsu that caused all the walls to smoulder.

"Ah well." I sighed, shrugging my shoulders, "Who cares? The most important thing is..." I grabbed her delicate hands and jumped up and down on the spot in front of her, "..we have graduated! Come on, Kiba has graduated as well!"

I started to drag her up the steps to the top desk with Kiba and plonked her down in the seat next to me, while I scooched in next to Kiba again."

"Hey, Reika-chan." Kiba smiled like he normally did, "I see Aya graduated after all."  
I gave a gently chuckle, "Of course she did. Why wouldn't she?" I sided up close to him in a flirty manner, which made his cheeks go slightly red.

 _Yeah, Kiba-kun,_ I thought to myself, _how can you answer that? MY Aya-chan graduated that exam with flying colours. Just as I would expect from a potential Akatsuki member..._


	14. Four in a Squad?

Nothing particularly special happened while we were waiting for Iruka-sensei arrived, apart from when Naruto and Sasuke had a bit of a 'scrap'.

"Ugh...they're at it again..." Kiba muttered, "With the way things are going, you could mistake them from an old married couple..."

"Oooh..." I perked up. I lifted my fingers into a frame and pointed them at Naruto, who was standing on the desk in front of Sasuke, and the Uchiha, _I sense a shipping!_ My Inner Self chanted, cocking her head side to side with each syllable.

However, the scrap kinda turned into a turned into a bit of a snog when one of the graduates who was sitting in front of them knocked Naruto off the desk and directly into Sasuke, their lips locking together.

 _Oh my God..._ My Inner Self's mouth was dropped open and she was staring ahead. As was I...that is...until I burst out into fits of laughter.

"See that girls?" I shouted to the gob smacked fangirls, "First kiss has already taken!" Of course I had to rub it in! Why shouldn't I?

Me and Kiba ended up in bits on the desk and guess what? Aya laughed as well! Well maybe it was more of a giggle, but that counts doesn't it? And then we got to sit back and watch the 'Batter Naruto' show!

Iruka arrived a few minutes later with a few sheets of paper in his hands. The list of squads I presumed.

"Alright, I am going to call out the names of the people who are going to be in squads together. With the newcomers arriving, there is not an equal number to have groups of three, so we have decided to have one group of four and the rest will be groups of three as usual." Iruka explained, organising the sheets on the podium and flicking through the pages.

 _Group of four...jeez that would mean even more work trying to work as a team...that sounds like extra effort,_ I rested my head in one of my hands as Iruka began to call out the squads.

"We are first going to announce the four man squad." Iruka declared, "Squad One. Maria." meh... "Oshiro, Reika," _wait..me? In a four man squad?! That's gonna be my number one nightmare! Please, please, please put Aya-chan in there too! Pleeeeaaassseee!_ "Hatake, Kaze." _Crap...nooooo Aya!_ "And Uchiha, Aya."

I had to prevent myself from jumping out of my seat I was that relieved. It kinda turned into an odd jolt people do when they are awoken at the wrong time.

 _Hahaha!_ My Inner Self was skipping around her den, cheerleading pompoms in her hands. I was going to turn to Aya and start squealing in excitement, but she wasn't looking at me...instead she was looking at someone else...and they were looking at her...Kaze...they didn't look friendly...but they didn't look like they detested each other either.

 _Guess I'll need to interfere with those two if I am to have any chance of keeping Aya to myself...Kaze might be a threat..._ I narrowed my eyes at Kaze, as her creepy glare turned from Aya to me. She scowled slightly, and I did the same, _You had better keep your distance if you wanna stay alive._

Luckily Kaze and Aya were distracted by the name calling, allowing me to examine our final member. _Maria...Maria who, exactly? She doesn't look all that special asides the gold eyes and silver hair._

 _So what? She has metallic hair and eyes...who cares._ Blimey my Inner Self was active today. She was now relaxing in a deck chair with sunglasses on, eating grapes while she was getting fanned down.

"Okay," Iruka was finally finished declaring the squads, "Those are all the squads. After lunch, meet back here and your Sensei will come and get you. You may go."

Immediately I jumped out of my seat and jumped up and down in front of Aya, "This is so exciting!" I finally got to say it!

"Hm." she agreed, not giving me a second glance, "Let's go and eat."

 _Hrmm...way to ruin the moment..._ I thought, my Inner Self nodding in agreement.

I linked my arm with Aya's, bid my farewells to Kiba, who was standing with his squad, and we headed for the door. But as we were just about to leave, Kaze and Maria popped up.

Kaze stood in front of us, "Do you guys wanna eat with us?" she asked, "I just thought that we should at least get acquainted, since we're in the same squad." she didn't look too enthusiastic, but I suppose if we were to be a goody good squaddy, then we should at least look and act the part.

I jumped in front of her and smiled brightly, "Sounds fun!" I agreed, before turning to Maria and getting a good look at her, waiting for her response.

"Just saying, I had no choice in the matter." she chimed, her voice rather deep for her appearance, "Kaze just dragged me over here." I cocked my head to the side, trying to combine her voice with her looks...not sure whether it suited her or not...not that I cared much, asides the curiousity, "But that's fine with me."

We simultaneously looked at Aya, who was taking a back seat and looking at us with her usual expression. She finally shrugged, "Alright then, it seems I'm outvoted."

"Sweet!" Kaze grinned, much to my surprise, _is she serious or not?_

But I ended up smiling brightly at her as we all left the academy and searched for a nice place to relax and eat as a squad.


	15. Kylan A Familiar Face

"Ooh ooh! Can we sit up there?" I begged, tugging on Aya's arm and pointing up at the Hokage faces, engraved in a cliff face, "Up at the very top. I want to feel the wind in my face."

Kaze snorted, "If it's wind you want, just hold still while I muster a jutsu."

 _I HATE her sarcasm...it'll be the death of me!_ I sweat dropped, "Not that kind of wind Kaze-chan...something a little more natural, and I don't mean farting either." I grinned brightly, giggling at my own joke.

For some reason, my three comrades were looking at me a little confused, with Maria going a little red and Aya pretending she didn't hear me.

"I don't remember ever mention.." Kaze cleared her throat, "Never mind...shall we just go up there?"

"Good idea."

"Hm."

The view from the top of the cliff was breathtaking. You could see all of Konoha and out into the endless forest. If only I had an easel and paintbrush, I could whip up a masterpiece, that is...if I had the patience for paintings. Dei-dei doesn't approve of painting either, unless he can blow it up with his clay afterwards. Alas, I shall just have to do some sewing instead. I've been itching to create something new to wear.

"Hmmm..." I sighed, as I weaved the my needle in and out of the two pieces of fabric. The wind whispered past my ear, cooled my face and brushed my hair. It was an incredible feeling. Something that nothing else could compare to, "Well this is nice...new squad, new life, new friends, everything!" I broke the silence which floated around my squad, asides the whistling wind. I turned to Aya, begging to start a conversation, to which she raised an eyebrow.

"I guess..." was all I got, before she looked down at where her legs were swinging over the edge of the cliff face.

 _If this is still to do with this Kaze person, I am going to strangle someone..._ I glared over at Kaze quickly, realising she and Maria were significantly further from us and closer to each other, _Is that so that they can talk about us? Because I don't appreciate a bitch..._ My Inner Self folded her arms, in her warning position.

Kaze turned to Aya and sighed, "Is that all you've gotta say...charming." she rolled her eyes.

 _Ugh...here we go with the sarcasm again..._ I subconsciously grabbed my pigtails and tugged them roughly, _I'm going to go mad!_

But I put on a front, "Oh don't worry about Aya-chan. She doesn't say an awful lot." I patted Aya's shoulder like an old dog, to which she flinched and then stiffened. My smile disappeared at the odd reaction, but then again, what am I to expect with Aya?

 _A compliment...I don't think so,_ My Inner Self tutted me, waggling her finger in front of her, a disapproved look on her face as she shook her head.

Kaze looked over to me, "I see..." she turned back to Maria as she continued to eat her lunch.

I continued to sew my new jacket.

 _Oh I CAN'T TAKE THIS SILENCE ANYMORE! SOMEBODY PLEASE SAY SOMETHING!_ I could feel my fingers getting shaky from the anticipation. I'm hating the silence.

"So..." I finally relaxed my twitching fingers as Kaze spoke up, shifting herself closer to me and Aya, "I've been wondering...where were you guys before you arrived here?" she flickered her gaze from Aya, to me, to back to Aya.

 _You want her answer, huh?_ I thought, folding my arms over my chest, _Well, I won't let Aya's secret be revealed, though she isn't stupid enough to reveal it. And Aya has enough on her plate as it is..._

 _I think we should take it from here..._ My Inner Self nodded to me and I grinned slightly back at her.

Tapping my chin, I looked up at the rolling clouds and thought deeply about my past. I can tell the truth as long as it is subtle and not too in depth, "Well...this will go a while back. I was born in Iwagakure and had a rather interesting childhood. Because of my Father's _abilities_ the village Black Ops were told to keep a close eye on us..." I could hear the flames crackle in my head, making me shudder.

"Abilities?" Kaze interrupted.

I rolled my eyes and turned to her. She had her eyebrows raised, _Nosy much? Very well, let's see how you deal with this..._

"I was coming to that." I thought I'd put my sarcastic tone in, just to make us even, "My Father was born with the ability to use the Explosion Release technique and during his career as a ninja he accidentally killed his comrades on one of his missions and was told he could never be a Shinobi again." _I was surprised he wasn't killed on the spot for treason, even if it were an accident,_ "He and Mother, as well as I, had to live a normal life, with no jutsus nor training. In case there were...any more accidents." _I wasn't stable. I didn't know how to control chakra or my...gift, so..._

"And here's the cliché...that didn't last forever." Kaze shifted even closer to me, she had a small, intrigued grin on her face.

I bit my bottom lip and smiled, _This is what I am capable of Hatake, Kaze. Let's hope this puny village and softie woftie villagers don't disappoint or anger me,_ "Of course. Because Mother and Father were not allowed to train me, they were unaware of any of my potential abilities. I was a rather creative girl..."

"You don't say..." Kaze interrupted again.

I smiled, flattered at her sarcasm for once. She was basically complimenting my art, "Always enjoying crafts and art. And I suppose, we kinda pushed our luck. Father let me use some of his detonating clay, assuming it wouldn't blow up, because he wouldn't set it off. I think you can guess the rest of the story."

I looked at my comrades. Kaze was pretty much in my face with how tense she was getting about this story. Aya was looking at me intent too. I guess I never told her the full, proper story. But still so much detail she doesn't know...what I don't know.

Maria moved over, so she was kneeling next to me, "You inherited your Father's technique."

I nodded, throwing a stone over the edge of the cliff, "I blew a small shop in Iwa to pieces. Killed the shop owner and a few customers. The ANBU were alerted instantly and got into action the same evening. Burnt our house to the ground," I saw it all happening now. Mother's pain filled eyes, the orange glow surrounding her pretty platinum blonde locks, _Don't cry, my little doll..._ I shook it away as best as I could, "killing both my parents. My whole life...down the toilet." Never before have I gotten so into my story. Something about telling it this time made me feel sick to my stomach...

Maria put a hand on my shoulder. Her brow was furrowed with concern, and I could sense her sympathy, "What happened to you?"

I sighed slightly, actually feeling slightly depressed, which is completely out of character. Even my Inner Self was sitting with her head dropped and silence surrounding her, "I was lucky. A relative of mine rescued me from the building and escaped Iwa. We remained hidden for years, never getting caught by an ANBU. And that is when Aya-chan came along." Time to twist the story a smidge, "She was travelling nearby and she agreed to let me come with her. And here we are now. We arrived in Konoha and became Shinobi with you lot. And now we are a squad!" I smiled brightly again, brushing aside my angst, though deep down it was still mocking me.

Kaze puffed out a long breath, "Blimey...that's a complicated childhood. Sucks doesn't it?"

I grinned and scoffed at her, "Tell me about it." Now's my chance to change the topic, "Anyway, that's enough stories for one day. Let me finish this jacket," I realised I stopped making it, "And then we'll be heading back, shall we?"

I felt Aya's shoulders relax when Kaze and Maria recoiled, so I turned and winked at her. I could tell she didn't want to be put on the spot. Not now anyway. She nodded once at me, before looking ahead of her, hugging her knees to her chest.

 _Finally!_ I held up my jacket and hugged it tightly, feeling the pride smack me in the face again, "Aya-chan! What do you think?" I held the jacket to my chest and swung my torso side to side.

"Hmm." was her response, as she looked at it briefly, _huh, don't sound too over keen...otherwise I won't bother making you anymore outfits..._ "You gonna be wearing that from now on?" she added.

My eyes lit up as she nodded in approval, and I nodded my head vigorously, pulled it over my shoulders and turned to Kaze and Maria. I ran over in a flash and pulled on the hem, "What do _you_ think?" I asked, _let's see if they have some fashion sense around them...but I wouldn't be all that surprised if they didn't...they seemed a little tomboyish for my liking...especially Maria...but I'm not disgusted. I'm actually quite fond of the girl..._

Both girls sweatdropped and looked away. I could tell they were trying to edge away slightly.

"Y...yeah...it's great Reika-chan." Maria giggled nervously, looking anywhere but in my eyes, _huh...just as I thought...not quite the fashionista review I was hoping for..._

Kaze interrupted, once again, "Right! Let's head back to the academy. We're gonna be late otherwise." _She's trying to save Maria's skin...but not her own._ I grinned deviously.

"Yes!" I leapt forward and hooked an arm around Kaze's, "Race you!" I ran ahead, dragging Kaze behind me.

Kaze grunted in shock at first, but found her voice quickly, "H...hey! Leggo! Stop!" she kept uttering words of shock, and almost begging me to stop...though not in a weakness, more in annoyance.

"You won't be able to beat me unless you run on your own Kaze-chaaan~" I sang in a jeery voice. _We'll be at the academy in no time..._


End file.
